Prevailing Prayer: In Pursuit of His Presence

By Ginny L Stanley

Pray prayers that prevail as you pursue His presence with passionate expectancy!

Are you a believer but feel disconnected from the Lord? Do you feel as if your prayer life is stagnant and ineffective? Do you feel that there is more to knowing Him than just praying a salvation prayer at the altar? If you answered

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jan 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781647736675

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Trilogy Christian Publishers

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Copyright © 2020 by Ginny L. Stanley

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV): Scriptures taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION ® Copyright© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

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Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-64773-666-8 (Print Book)

ISBN 978-1-64773-667-5 (ebook)

To the Holy Spirit and my Heavenly Father, who graciously led me to write this book. I also dedicate this to my husband, Warren, and son, Benjamin, who lovingly supported and encouraged me throughout this journey.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Pursuing His Presence

Chapter 2: Enemy to Prayer

Chapter 3: Abiding in Prayer

Chapter 4: Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 5: Learning from Jesus

Chapter 6: Two-Way Communication

Chapter 7: Fresh Fire

Chapter 8: Persistence in Prayer

Chapter 9: Praying God’s Word

Chapter 10: Prayer and Fasting

Chapter 11: Intercession

Chapter 12: Worship

Chapter 13: Intimacy Leads to Prevailing

God’s Plan of Salvation

Salvation Prayer

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Endorsement

Foreword

Prayer is widely defined as an earnest request or wish. While academically accurate, such a definition is foreign to the kind of communication, interaction, and sharing of hearts our Creator desires to have with all His children—with you and me.

Prayer is the opening of our closed hearts to meet and to meld with God’s open heart. Prayer is the submitting of our hearts and lives to become vital conduits of God’s will and purpose in the earth. Prayer, flowing through committed and humbled hearts, literally moves mountains, flings prison gates wide open, gives strength to long-dead limbs, raises the dead to life again, causes the blind to see, changes the hearts of kings and of rulers. Prayer changes the world.

Is it any wonder, then, that the enemy of our souls, Satan, works diligently and too often effectively to shut off the vital flow of prayer between Creator and creation? Is it any wonder that the enemy of our souls perverts the purposes of prayer, reducing communion and divine exchange with God to that of a heavenly ATM machine where we insert the card of our humanistic desires and receive the cash of our selfish wants?

Is it any wonder that many Christians, perhaps most, find it a challenge to develop and to maintain a life of prayer as they walk with and worship God?

In this powerful book, Prevailing Prayer: In Pursuit of His Presence, Ginny Stanley pulls back the curtain that cloaks the eternal truths surrounding prevailing prayer—its reality, its cost, its availability, its power, and its necessity in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ.

Prevailing Prayer: In Pursuit of His Presence is more than a compilation of personal spiritual experiences as provided to us by a spiritual mentor and teacher. Though such a work would no doubt prove valuable to the true seeker of God’s presence, Prevailing Prayer goes deeper than merely the impact of Ginny’s testimony, as powerful as her life story is.

Prevailing Prayer is not a book of theology, doctrine, or denominational dogma. This effort is more; it provides a greater and deeper revelation of what it is to walk closely with our Maker, our Redeemer, and our eternal Friend. This closeness, this nearness that Ginny speaks of is God’s desire for each of us and not merely for some spiritual hierarchy of ministers with titles, both biblical and extrabiblical.

Written in simple and straightforward prose, Prevailing Prayer presents to the reader profound truth that only may be experienced by those whose desire is to know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death (Phil. 3:10 NKJV).

It is in this place, hidden, protected, covered, and secured, closer than His heartbeat, nearer than His very breath, where the believer in Christ finds satisfaction, fulfillment of the deepest desires, peace, calm, and purpose.

As Ginny takes us ever deeper in the secret places of intimate fellowship with God, moving from the pursuit of God’s presence to the deep realities of personal, private prayer, help is found for the infant believer as well as to the seasoned saint of God and prayer warrior.

Her concluding chapter, Intimacy Leads to Prevailing, brings us full circle in discovering the true and time-worn means of praying meaningful and powerful prayers while drawing close to the heart of our God and King, where He reveals the deep desires and cries He wishes to hear from His children and responds to them with His grace, His mercy, and His goodness.

The brief and simplistic-appearing words of Jesus ring loudly here as one reads through the pages of Prevailing Prayer: But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matt. 6:6). In response to the disciples’ request that He teach them to pray, he said to them, When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come’ (Luke 11:2). Prevailing Prayer guides us into the secret place, encourages us to remain there, and describes the weight of the glory of God, ready to press down upon and within the heart and soul and mind of the follower of Jesus.

In Prevailing Prayer: In Pursuit of His Presence, Ginny teaches us, provoking us to move ever deeper into the prayer closet, where the old chorus encourages us:

Shut in with God in a secret place

There in the Spirit, beholding His face

Gaining new power to run in this race

Oh, I love to be shut in with God.

(Author Unknown)

On a very real and personal level, the author has lived through the very fulfillment of the truth of God’s words, What the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good (Gen. 50:20).

God has led Ginny on a higher and higher journey to discover true intimacy with Him. He has led her to the secret place of healing, to a place of deliverance, and finally, to a place of security, a place where she became intimately aware of who God is and not merely what He is. He has led her to know Him and not primarily to know about Him.

That place is where God desires all His children to go and to abide, a place of prayer and communion with Him. As she has become familiar with the secret place, God has asked Ginny to lead others to the place He has provided for us all. This book illustrates the path to follow, a path available to all who are willing to go to new heights, experience new depths, and new vistas in Him.

As you read Prevailing Prayer, resist the urge to merely read Ginny’s words to gain information or to enhance your spiritual knowledge. As you read, follow His leading. The path is clear, though the way may sometimes appear indistinct. Ginny has gathered treasures and waymarks that God has provided to keep us from stumbling and becoming lost on our journeys.

With Ginny and the Holy Spirit as our pathfinder, we are led to a place of close intimacy with God beyond what we may have thought possible.

Dear reader, Christ longs for intimacy with you. If you are hungry to know Him in a more intimate way, open the gates/pages of Prevailing Prayer and let Him show you the way. He desires for you to know Him, to love Him, and to trust Him. Are you ready for the journey? He’s ready for you.

—Greg Austin, ThD, and Charlotte Austin

Acknowledgments

To my Heavenly Father, who sought me out, delivered me, healed me, and set me free! To God be the glory for any and everything that He leads me to accomplish. All praise goes to You!

I am most thankful to my husband, Warren, and son, Benjamin, who supported me throughout the journey of writing this book. Their continual support and encouragement motivated me to stay the course. Thank you for loving me throughout the process.

To all my friends forged from my season at Lebanon Community Fellowship, I am eternally grateful for the meals, talks, place to stay, and unconditional love when I needed it the most. The impartation of spiritual truth equipped me to be the woman of God I am today.

To Bill, thank you for taking the time to read and impart. Your time and insight are appreciated. I pray that God bless you mightily.

To my friend Diana, who supported me through continual prayer and encouragement throughout this journey. Thank you! As the Bible says, Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Prov. 27:17). Thank you for being my iron.

To Greg and Charlotte, I am blessed to know you. Thank you for taking the time to read, impart, and share spiritual insight. Charlotte, I am most thankful for the night in October 1997 that God decided it was time that I be set free. God allowed you to witness a broken person be completely and radically delivered by the grace and power of God. Words cannot express what God has done for me, and I am thankful He allowed you to be a part of it.

Lastly, I must thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His shed blood, I would be bound, lost, and broken. I am thankful that He gave His life for me when I was most unworthy. I am thankful for the indwelling Holy Spirit that leads, guides, comforts, and teaches me along the way. As the Word says, Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him] (John 14:6). Praise be to our Lord!

Introduction

Our Heavenly Father intricately designed us for the purpose of relationship with Himself. This relationship was marred and broken due to Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden; however, it was beautifully restored through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He desires to have a meaningful relationship with us that is forged and sustained by prayer. We only come to know Him through prayer and remain to know Him through prayer. Without the discipline of prayer, it is impossible for us to truly experience and encounter Him.

When the word prayer is mentioned, many different connotations arise. Many think of religion, spiritual discipline, a function of church, words directed to heaven, etc.; however, true prayer should lead us on a journey straight to the throne room of our Creator. True prayer connects us to our Heavenly Father in a personal, intimate, and tangible way.

For the purposes of this book, when I refer to prevailing prayer or prayers, that prevail I am referring to prayers that overcome our circumstances, release the promises of God, and are effective in rendering the change that is necessary in order for us to fully walk in the will and intimacy of God. Prevailing prayer changes our circumstances, transforms us, and creates an atmosphere that ushers the presence of God into our lives.

You will hear the term prayer closet used throughout this book. If you are unfamiliar with this term, it simply refers to the place where you commune with the Lord regularly. This could be in a literal closet, your car, outside, or various places. The place is insignificant; however, I encourage you to designate a specific place that is your sanctuary, free from distractions, in which you can regularly pray, worship, proclaim freely, etc. I personally feel the liberty to pray anywhere; however, there is a particular place that I consider my actual prayer closet. This is the place that I can both worship Him and unleash war upon my enemy. Prayerfully establish your personal prayer closet that will work best for you.

The Lord must become our everything. After salvation, He should move from being just a part of our life to our lives truly being hidden in Him (Col. 3:3). We must sincerely desire His will more than our own. It is essential that we count everything else as rubbish compared to fully abiding and living for Christ (Phil. 3:8). Any other perspective on our relationship with Him will leave us broken and powerless in our Christian walk.

Here are some thought-provoking questions to ask yourself as you work your way through this book: Is your experience with the Lord lining up with what you read in the Word, or does it fall short? Is something missing? Do you feel close to or distant from Him? Is your prayer life powerful or powerless? Do you truly know Him or just about Him? When is the last time you can honestly say that you encountered Him?

If you desire to truly know Him, truly experience Him, and truly have a meaningful relationship with Him, this book is for you. He loves you with an everlasting love and will leave the ninety-nine to chase after you, although it will make His heart glad if you decide to chase after Him instead (Luke 15:1–7).

To know Him, we must be in relationship with Him. If you have never accepted Jesus into your life, you must take this step before progressing further in this book. His promises and truths are for His children; therefore, we must surrender our lives to Him before we can receive those promises and truths. If you cannot say with confidence that you are a child of God, please turn to pages 301–303 and pray the salvation prayer to begin your journey with the Lord.

Do you feel or have thoughts that you cannot experience this type of relationship with the Lord? Our enemy will infiltrate our minds with these types of thoughts in hopes that we will listen and obey them. Satan knows that if we believe otherwise and press ourselves firmly into the Lord, he will lose ground in our lives, which translates to our freedom in Christ. We must take these thoughts captive and embrace God’s truth. He desires relationship with us, will accept us as we are, but thankfully, will not leave us where we are.

Take heart in knowing that God does not always call the ones who have it altogether; He came for a wretched sinner like you and me. He came to seek and save the lost, the broken, and the destitute. His Word tells us, But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). We cannot tarry until we have it altogether to run to Him. We must run to Him so that He can put us back together and restore us for His glory. You can know Him and experience Him in a way that is both powerful and profound. This is His desire and how we have been intricately designed. Surrender yourself to Him as you are, and He will transform you into who He has called you to be.

It is my heartfelt prayer and desire that as you prayerfully work your way through this book, the Lord will lead you on a journey of deep prevailing prayer and a deeper level of intimacy with Himself. We live in a broken and painful world that is dominated by voices contrary to our Father’s. What better time to draw close to our Creator? He is faithful, but we must desire to know Him and consider everything else as loss in exchange for relentlessly pursuing Him.

Determine that you will seek Him in a way that firmly and securely plants your feet upon the path that leads to His heart and to your inheritance. He purchased the abundant life for you because of His great love toward you. Pursue Him and allow Him to transform you into the child of God that is divinely equipped to receive this blessed inheritance to the fullest.

God Bless!

Pursuing His Presence

As believers, it should be our number one desire to pursue our Heavenly Father with passionate expectancy. He is God, He is Spirit, and the deepest parts of our soul need Him in His fullest. At our depths, our souls cry out and hunger and thirst for more of Him. Unfortunately, many believers in desperate need of Him continue to live clinging to the things of this life in hopes that their deepest needs will be met by some natural means.

Considering we have been created in His image, we must pursue Him ardently in order to obtain the wholeness our souls yearn for (Gen. 1:27). In ourselves we are utterly incomplete, insufficient and broken without Him. The Word tells us that the only way to our Heavenly Father is through His precious Son, Jesus, who sacrificially gave His life for ours (John 3:16; John 14:6). We have been born into sin, fallen, and separated from our Creator. This chasm created by our sinful nature can only be bridged by Jesus.

Many well-meaning churches preach salvation fervently; however, they fail in the areas of effective discipleship and equipping of the saints. Salvation only begins a battle-ridden journey of a life working out our salvation with fear and trembling, as stated by Paul:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12–13)

This fear and trembling mentioned by Paul is not one of irrationality or unhealthy bondage, but a fear based upon holy reverence and acknowledgment of who He is in relation to us. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and Psalm 25:14 goes further and states, The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. Believers must look upon Him with reverence and awe, for He is holy and calls us to a life of holiness, just as Peter urged believers in the early church to not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:14–16).

One of the most important disciplines believers must embrace from the onset of salvation is meaningful communion with our Heavenly Father. We can experience this communion with Him through prayer. He desires to come alongside of us and lead us as we draw near to Him. He has called us His friends; therefore, He desires to reveal His perfect will to us (John 15:15). Our time spent with Him needs to be tangible and transformative for us to fulfill the plans and purposes that He has for us. Those plans are for our good and for His glory, as stated in the book of Jeremiah:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. (Jer. 29:11–12)

Through prayer, we open the door to experience His divine presence. In His presence we will find healing, restoration, and refreshment for our souls. Nothing and no one can replace His presence in our lives. As we draw near to Him and make sacrifices of prayer, we begin to crave His presence with increasing intensity. Something changes within us that starts to commune with Him at a deeper level as we set aside more time with Him. As the Sons of Korah so poetically penned in Psalm 42, they recognized that the deepest parts of themselves needed the deepest parts of God. They declared that deep calls to deep (Ps. 42:7).

The Sons of Korah were worshippers. They knew how to usher in and abide in the deep places of prayer and worship. We, too, need to abide in that secret place of worshipful prayer that is only possible to reach by following His sweet Holy Spirit. Jesus asked the Father to send us the Holy Spirit so that the Spirit of God could dwell in us and make it possible for us to be firmly established in Christ and fellowship with Him from our depths (John 14:16–17). We need this Spirit of truth in our lives, for He will lead us to the very heart of God.

Prayer is such a vital component of a believer’s relationship with the Lord. In fact, our relationship with Him ultimately begins with prayer. The prayer of repentance begins not only our relationship with the Lord but also a lifelong pursuit of becoming acquainted with our Heavenly Father and the glorious riches of His kingdom. He only reveals a glimpse of His glory while He is wooing us into a relationship with Himself. The rest remains to be discovered as we chase after Him in passionate pursuit.

The Word tells us that God has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). He desires that we walk in full knowledge of who He is and that we have a clear understanding of His will for our lives. He beckons us to remain in connected relationship with Himself to the degree that He can entrust us with the greater things of His kingdom.

Prayer not only initiates our relationship with Him but also constructs the foundation for deeper revelation of greater things. If we neglect to remain faithful in establishing a prayer life with Him, how can we be entrusted with greater things? Jesus pointed this out in Luke 16:10, One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. Devoted prayer establishes and solidifies our relationship with our Father and leads us to embark upon a journey of the continued unraveling of the greater things His beautiful plan for our lives entails.

Going Beyond the Veil

We should not settle for mediocrity in our prayer lives, or we may find ourselves on the outside looking in, as it pertains to the things of the kingdom. Jesus explained this concept to His disciples when they asked Him about the parables that He used to colorfully illustrate His truths. He told them, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand (Luke 8:10).

In order to understand and perceive the deeper things of God, we must abide in the place of intimate relationship with Him. Just as we are diligent to share only certain aspects of our lives with certain people in our realm of relationships based on the level of closeness and trust in those relationships, so it is with God. Trust and faithfulness need to be established before more is revealed. Through the process of sanctification, He prunes us and develops the needed character attributes that shape us into the vessels that can be used for His glory and entrusted with more (John 15:2). Greater intimacy paves the way for greater revelation.

This journey of prayer should lead us to a deeper level of intimacy with our Heavenly Father. As we come to know Him, we come to realize who we are in Him. Without having a true understanding of Him, we cannot have a true understanding of ourselves and who He has created us to be. The revelation of who He is brings divine transformation to who we are.

We must desire to see Him, hear His voice, and feel His presence beyond the ordinary. There is nothing ordinary about our God. He exemplifies divine perfection and expressively created us to walk in the power and authority of His kingdom. He is omnipresent (all present), omnipotent (all power), omniscient (all knowing), and eternal. Our prayers can surpass the natural realm and open the windows of heaven if we will press in with the entirety of our being. This is God’s heart, His will, and His plan for those of us that abandon the things of this world in exchange for a closer walk with Him.

In essence, our relationship with God is initiated, cultivated, and maintained by our prayer lives. If our desire is to truly know Him, to truly experience Him, and to truly live a crucified life that brings Him glory, we must be diligent in our pursuit of Him through prayer. We must discipline ourselves to seek out the things that are above in the midst of our chaotic lives. Paul tells us that we have been raised with Christ and that we must seek the things that are above (Col. 3:1). He further states that we have died and that our lives are hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).

In order to cultivate, deepen, and maintain intimacy with the Lord, we must be earnest in our prayer closets (see more about establishing a prayer closet in the introduction). Christ must not exist just to become a part of our lives but truly become our life. True life is hidden with Christ in God, as Paul mentioned (Col. 3:3). We must fervently seek His face and heart to enter that hidden place reserved only for His chosen children. This seeking must become a lifestyle, not just a crisis-management plan.

The quality of our prayer lives will determine the quality of our experience and relationship with our Creator. We will only experience Him to the degree that we pursue Him. Intimacy with Him requires that we lay our lives down and consider everything else as loss when it comes to having a true relationship with our Lord. If we attempt to cling to a worldly life and maintain a relationship with Him, we will come up short (Matt. 10:38–39).

Consecration or Complacency?

If we neglect to establish purpose-driven prayer lives, our Christian life will be one of powerlessness, confusion, and feeling just as disconnected as an unbeliever. Jesus tells us, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other (Matt. 6:24). We are faced with a choice as to whom we will serve.

Although this scripture is referring to money, I believe it also applies to believers being consumed by worldly affairs to the extent that we lack true devotion and relationship with Him. If we are reluctant to surrender certain areas of our lives, we will not experience victory or complete freedom in our daily walk with Him. In essence, we will fail to embrace the fullness of our God-given inheritance. Areas that we refuse or do not recognize that we need to surrender to Him will become stumbling blocks in our Christian walk. That one thing that we keep from Him may be the one thing that hinders Him moving in our lives. These battles are won or lost through prayer.

Jesus was clear regarding the cost of following Him when He told His disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matt. 16:24–26).

The apostle Paul also expressed his perspective on the priceless gift of following the Lord and stated that he counted everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Phil. 3:8). Paul was in prison at the time of writing this statement. He considered the chains he bore paled in comparison to the critical yet priceless gift of knowing Christ intimately, as should we.

If we fully realize the depth and breadth of our prayers and the impact they have upon our reality, we would approach this gift of communing with our Father so much differently and not forsake it. Prayer is designed to unleash His glory and promises in our lives. It is a divine privilege to have unlimited access to our Heavenly Father through the gift of prayer. Our prayers also create a covering over our lives to protect us from the enemy. Paul mentions this when he instructs us to put on the whole armor of God in the passage below:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness